Cinema is an artistic, sentimental, intellectual, and collective experience shared by people, in the same place, and at the same time. It is an experience that combines the present, the past and the future through universal stories, that invite us to reflect on and discuss eternal themes. Over the last few years, new technologies have shown us how deeply cinema, as an art form, has been helpful in uniting people beyond boundaries, allowing us to savour cinematic magic, even if only virtually.

As we now slowly return to the pre-pandemic life, it gives us immense joy to invite you to rediscover the pleasure of shared experience through cinema with the 27th edition of the European Union Film Festival–India (EUFF India). Meeting people in public spaces to watch, experience and discuss films together is a unique and founding cultural experience of our society; making coming back to cinemas akin to hugging a dear friend who has been gone for a long time.

The EUFF India has over the years become a familiar sharing space to highlight the variety and wealth of European cinematography with passionate Indian audiences. This year it is even more special as 2022 marks 60-years of diplomatic relationship between the European Union and India.

The festival goes hybrid this year with both, on ground and virtual screenings. This edition is a celebration of cinema: through film screenings, audience interaction and masterclasses. What’s more, the festival provides the audience and film students an opportunity to meet and interact with Italian directors Orso and Peter Miyakawa and to discuss the art of scriptwriting with Dutch producer and scriptwriter Jolein Laarman.

All of it underlining our joint desire to be collectively immersed and involved in art, culture, and cinema.

Europe loves cinema, exactly as India loves cinema. Both share a long-standing love story that has manifested over the years through mutual inspiration, learning and intercultural dialogue. This is evident when we glance at great directors of the past as well as the works of new authors, in the continuous and uninterrupted search to (re)invent cinema, and in the effort to restore the depth of the human experience, beyond limits and borders.

This exchange is also highlighted at the EUFF India with the section Eurorama: A selection of contemporary cinema from across Europe that celebrates the value of the dialogue and solidarity spirit between people, with the awareness of the complexity of human, social and familial relationships. Young, powerful, offbeat and independent voices, take us through a roller coaster of emotions featuring peoples’ desires and fears, hopes and struggles, personal aspirations and collective projects, while travelling through different yet similar experiences via the stunning landscapes of Europe.

The EUFF India, in collaboration with the Dharamshala International Film Festival, is honoured to present a section on India @ European Film Festivals. A selection of outstanding Indian films that have participated at prestigious European festivals, addressing fundamental issues such as the beauty and harshness of growing up, fulfilling ambitions and aspirations, the search for truth, and the value of community spirit.

Cinema is also a cathartic trip that questions what we are as individuals and as a community, living on this marvellous planet. With its ability to surprise us, shake us up and even change us, cinema is a journey that makes us more aware, more receptive and closer to other living beings and to this Earth. In an enriched section, blending European and Indian documentaries – Green Cinema: Addressing Climate Change, audiences can find unique stories of ecological awareness, personal engagement and bravery in taking care of the future of our planet, displaying that it is our primary interest and duty to preserve and protect it, mostly from ourselves.

“Tenderness is the true moral position. I cannot recognize as an art form something that lacks tenderness;” famous Italian filmmaker Roberto Rossellini has said. Today more than ever, we need to amplify this vision and perspective based on love and tenderness towards people and the world around us. After all, we shoulder the responsibility of making it a better place for the future generations.

That is why this edition of EUFF India follows the theme of inter-generational relations with films from across European Union member states. The selection explores what we are leaving behind for the next generation, what is the meaning of an “exemplum”, what kind of legacy is being handed down from generation to generation through familial and social bonds. The line-up takes the audience on a journey with stories that underline the crucial role of inter-generational and inter-cultural dialogue as a way to do away with stereotypes and free peoples’ spirits, to be oneself and rebel where necessary, learning through similarities and differences; differences that are also our wealth.

The festival offers an exciting mix of genres and styles, from new spectacular frontiers of documentary to the ever more sophisticated and lively field of animation, from the bittersweet laughs of sharp comedy to the emotional touch of moving drama and the power-packed world of action. As simple as they are stunning, these film representations of love and conflict, death and birth are a powerful emblem that “we” are “the others” and “the others” are “us”. Trying to put ourselves in others’ shoes, and trying to understand life and its sensibilities around us, thanks to art and cinema, is the best way to create what we call a future, together.

– Veronica Flora and Valerio Caruso